0:01Now, did you have before you were starting YouTube, did you have like some money saved up from the work you were doing to be able to fund yourself for a while? Because obviously you got to travel places that cost money and like at the beginning, as we all know, when you're starting a channel, you don't make money.
0:15>> Yeah. Um, that's that's a good question because uh I had actually basically used up like all my money at that point, right? Uh cuz this was like it was almost like a year before I started doing this from like when I left China and like my businesses uh hadn't been running anymore. So um yeah, what's funny was like uh they were sending out those like those checks during COVID like Biden Trump. Yeah. The stimulus checks.
0:42>> And uh with literally with that stimulus check, I booked my flight to uh Tanzania and I was probably on like my last $1,000. like no joke. So this was like I was literally doing like a Hail Mary.
0:57>> Was that the second flight to Tanzania?
0:59>> The second flight to Tanzania. Yeah.
1:01>> So you're like it's got to work. I got to do something viral in Tanzania.
1:04>> Yeah. It's a a good sign of my insanity or stupidity that I thought this would be a good idea. Uh because like the chances of it working were pretty minute. But uh somehow it did. Somehow it did. I think it's cuz uh there was like literally no other videos of Africa at that time or at least vlogs like that. What happened? You get on the ground in Tanzania. Did Did you have any idea what kind of content you were doing or you're like, I got to go find something?
1:28>> Yeah, I mean, I had like a mild [snorts] idea, but uh what I usually do is I just fly to the country and then I start researching when I'm there because I feel like I could learn more by like talking to locals, right? And they'll be like, "Yo, this is cool. You should go here." Or like, "This is crazy." Or, "Uh, there's Nazis over there." So, [laughter] uh, um, >> you ever seen a Tanzanian nation?
1:52[laughter] >> A fun fact, it was a German colony.
1:55>> Oh, god. Originally, >> god damn it.
1:57>> There was a big World War One, uh, excuse me, World War I battle back in the day. So, >> all right. Well, we we'll leave that one to the side.
2:05>> But you get there, you start talking to people. What What stories piqu you that you you ended up going after?
2:12>> Um, so at that point, uh, I like those were like really early days. So, you know what? I thought people would just be interested in watching me like walk around, talk to people, >> and that's basically what I did. Um, Zanzibar is actually pretty awesome.
2:28It's like a big like resort destination.
2:31Like the Europeans like to go to it.
2:33>> Yeah. Yeah. Billy Joel Song. Zanzibar, right?
2:35>> Yeah. There you go. Yeah.
2:36>> He's a Long Island guy.
2:37>> I think Freddy Mercury was born there or something. Um, >> was he really?
2:41>> Yeah.
2:41>> Frederick Mercury born in Zanzibar.
2:44Yeah, because he's like I think Iranian Indian descent or something.
2:49>> No [ __ ] >> Yeah.
2:51>> So cool place.
2:52>> A very cool place. I recommend it. It used to be like this like Omani.
2:56>> Keep that Keep that mic close by the way.
2:58>> My bad.
2:59>> It used to be like an Omani colony and they built like these crazy cities there that still stand. Um it's called Stone Town.
3:07>> Stone. Can we Google that? Stone Town.
3:09Zanzibar.
3:10>> Yeah.
3:11>> That's also [snorts] a hard name for a video. Yeah.
3:14>> Going into the stone ages of Zanzibar.
3:17>> There you go.
3:18>> Here we go.
3:21>> All right. So, that fight that's Zanzibar right there on the coast. We can see that.
3:26>> Yeah.
3:26>> And then is that one right below it what you're talking about?
3:30>> If you go up up to the right, D right there. Yeah.
3:34>> Is that it?
3:35>> Yeah, that's it.
3:37>> So, is this like castles? Old castles.
3:40So, it's got um it almost looks like an old city in the Middle East a little bit, but um yeah, they had some like forts and just the whole city is like yeah, architecture from 400 years ago.
3:53>> And they got like markets down there, too. That's really cool.
3:56>> Bizars.
3:57>> Bizaars. I'm sorry, that is the correct term.
4:00>> Um yeah. No, it was it's a really awesome place to uh walk around. I heavily recommend it. It's a very unique place in Africa also. I don't know of anywhere else like it. So, you had videos that did really well of you just talking to the people here at the time.
4:15>> Yeah. Yeah. Um, this was the moment when I realized like I could just start filming and I might encounter somebody that would say something so insane that it could be a video.
4:24>> So, what' they say that was insane.
4:27Um, [sighs and gasps] well, my first viral video, I don't know if I should be proud of this, but like was like in a village uh in rural Tanzania. And um I'm just like trying to find like this mystical banana liquor that they have there.
4:43>> A mystical what?
4:44>> A banana liquor that's made from banana liquor. Yeah. Uh I wanted to try it and that was supposed to be what the video was about, but like I stopped at this bar to like find it. They don't have it.
4:55And then like the I think she was like the owner of the bar. She's just like, "Hey, my daughters are here. Do you want to talk to them?" And then like it slowly turns into I'm like, "Is she trying to like marry me off to like her two daughters?" [laughter] >> So we just like travel around and then we finally find like a shack like serving this liquor. It's kind of nasty, but I was like, "You know what? YOLO."
5:16Like uh for the experience. And um I just uploaded that and I was like I was forced into polygamy in Tanzania. That was the title.
5:26>> That's a good title. [laughter] >> So, wait, you were forced into polygamy, so when the camera stopped, some cool things happened.
5:32>> Uh, well, that's that's a trade secret, but no, I actually didn't see him.
5:41>> Are you married legally in Tanzania? Is that what you're telling me?
5:44>> Uh, I'm actually not sure. Oh, >> I'm not sure. I got I think I got married like four times when I was in Africa.
5:49>> Okay. You get the benefits of marriage?
5:51Um, [sighs] I don't know if I could say that.
5:54[laughter] I don't know if I can put that out there. That's uh to protect identity.
6:01Yeah, it was a great uh it was a very noteworthy experience. Excellent. And uh for some reason that video has like 9 million views, >> you know. I'm not surprised. Can we just I didn't even see that title. [laughter] I need to look at the title. What was it? The polygamy. I >> I was forced into polygamy.
6:17>> Forced into polygamy. Against your will.
6:19Yeah.
6:20>> It's totally against your will.
6:21>> It was Yeah.
6:21>> You were not happy about it.
6:23>> It was torture.
6:24>> Have you talked to a therapist?
6:24>> It was worse than the Russian prison.
6:26>> It was worse than a Russian prison.
6:27>> Yeah. It was It was rough.
6:29>> It's a great title. Okay. Yeah. Let's Oh, you're still doing the walk and talk with the cam. Yeah. Let's roll that real quick. Hold on. Hold on. Roll the [snorts] beginning. Def.
6:38>> I just want to I want to see where the walk and talk is.
6:40>> Good morning.
6:41>> Good morning.
6:41>> From the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.
6:45The Chaga people for a thousand years have lived on the side of the mountain and they still continue to do so today.
6:54They're known for two things. One is being very good at business. The second is that they frequently get drunk on bananas. Today I'm going to go and investigate both of these things.
7:07I'd >> like to marry.
7:09>> So if you've never seen a Tanzanian station, this will be an itself.
7:19How do you say beautiful in >> cha eyeing you up? [laughter] >> They're eyeing you up, dog.
7:32>> All right. You are beautiful.
7:35>> If you want to say that, you have to say it like this. But she's teaching you.
7:39She likes you.
7:41It was really going on.
7:48>> Okay. At what point did the sexual favors begin?
7:51>> Uh, that's around like minute 30.
7:54[laughter] >> All right. Yeah. Let's go to the next spike.
7:57>> Yeah. I think right there.
7:58>> I think there's like a Only Fans link in there or something.
8:00>> Got it.
8:01>> You work here.
8:01>> Oh, is this the father marrying you [laughter] after them?
8:05>> Oh, they got kids, too. You're about to >> Oh, they had kids. Yeah. You're about to be the father that stepped up.
8:10[laughter] >> You like the white guy said, "Yeah, >> the kids are saying yeah, too."
8:26>> I had no idea.
8:28Can you help me get to Vegas?
8:31>> Okay.
8:32>> She said, "Let's go together."
8:34>> I see where this is going. We took like a van to like some [laughter] shack or something like that.
8:38>> Oh, >> to a shack.
8:40>> To a shack. Yeah. As you do, which is uh where they serve the actual liquor.
8:45>> I don't think it was even like a bar. It was just like like a shack where you just like >> You went to the back room of the shack, too.
8:51>> There was not actually a back room, but there was a back of the shack.
8:54>> That's right.
8:55>> Yeah. Um and then uh Yeah. I can't think.
9:00>> Oh, this is where it's Yeah. So, and then you can say, "I have a new husband." That's a great screen grab right there. Look at her face. She's like, "Fuck yeah." And then the chick on the other side's like, "Get the cameras up. Let's go."
9:12>> Yeah.
9:13>> This is like one of those like Mormon porn videos, but there's no Mormons around. You know what I mean? You got like eight wives and the dude >> Tanzanian Mormons.
9:21>> Yes, that's right. I can I can see that.
9:24I could see your future there.
9:25>> Yeah. Yeah. So, um, >> you never brought them back to the US.
9:29>> Unfortunately, not. I unfortunately did not see them again after that. We were going in different directions, but >> Well, you got a side piece in the country if you need it.
9:38>> I Yeah, fine. Go back to Tanzania. Yeah, which I do love Tanzania, by the way.
9:42It's a wonderful country.
9:44>> It seems like it.
9:44>> Recommend everyone visit. They got safaris also.
9:48>> I've heard great things about the safaris in Tanzania and some other countries over there. Is definitely a dream of mine to go do that.
9:54>> Yeah. Yeah. Um, >> did you get to do that? I take it over there.
9:58>> I did. Yeah. Off camera. Didn't think it would be like >> You didn't roll camera for the [ __ ] elephants and [ __ ] What's wrong with you?
10:06>> No, I didn't because uh you could actually I think this was in Uganda actually. You could see elephants walking on the side of the road. I was just like, you know what? I think that was more fun. Just like it's not even a safari. It's like [ __ ] elephants on the side of the road.
10:18>> Did you get video of that?
10:19>> I did. All right, good.
10:20>> Yeah, it's in there.
10:22>> I love elephants. Yeah, >> they're the best. One of, if not the most common DMs I get on Instagram are many of you asking me what my favorite books are. Well, today's your lucky day because if you use the link in my description below to join my newsletter, I'm going to give you my top 10 book recommendations right now. Also, if you'd like to join my clipping community for a chance to make money producing content from the show, you can do so via the Discord link in my description below. And finally, you can join my Patreon for early uncensored releases of the full episodes via the Patreon link
10:49in my description below. As always, please take one second to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.
10:54I really appreciate that. Also, the like button is a big help. And you can join my newsletter via the link in the description. Um, did you look at any of the poaching culture over there at all?
11:04Cuz obviously that's a huge problem across a lot of Africa.
11:08>> Yeah, I think that might have been in the back of my mind, but uh my bad.
11:12>> You're good.
11:12>> Uh, I think that was in the back of my mind, but uh, no one over there gives a [ __ ] So, no one brought it up. um it wasn't really a thing um that was being talked about. So yeah, didn't quite explore it.
11:25>> Yeah, it's >> I was also um I had like barely any money at that point. So I had to find like the cheapest safari ever. Uh normally they're like a,000 $2,000 uh cuz it's, you know, it's like for like these rich uh American European tourists. Yeah.
11:41>> And uh I had like 200 bucks. So I found one that was like, you know what, there's not going to be any lions on this one.
11:49>> [laughter] >> Hopefully, >> but we'll show you some giraffes and [ __ ] you know? So, >> they're like handing you a gun from 1870, [laughter] dropping you off safari, boy.
12:00>> Yeah. Yeah.
12:02For this one, we don't have a car. We're just going to like throw you out there.
12:05Um and then if you make it back, [gasps] >> it's good test.
12:10>> Yeah, >> good test [clears throat] out there.
12:11>> It was a fun experience, though. It's amazing how a lot of these places like you talk about Zanzibar which is obviously like like a major metropolis and all that but places like this because of where they are geographically you can have that and then like you said on the side of the road there could be elephants and when you walk across the road just out of the city it's a full-blown >> open national geographic shoot you know it's it's unbelievable.
12:36>> Yeah. Seriously. Um they do have laws there where like the people can't build their houses like in the actual grazing lands. Um cuz these safaris are like a major cash cow for these countries. So yeah, they go out of their way to protect them.
12:52>> But there are towns just close enough where yeah, you might have like a lion wander in once in a while.
12:58>> Uh yeah, that's not fun to find in your backyard.
13:01>> So you did find a lion in your backyard.
13:03Uh, unfortunately I still have never seen a lion in person outside of a zoo.
13:08So, um, >> that's for the best.
13:10>> Yeah, you would think so. I did um make a video with this one Messiah tribe where they have a tradition where you're not a man until you go out and kill a lion with your bare hands. Supposedly >> with your bare hands.
13:24>> I think that was it.
13:24>> There's only like 20 21,000 lions in Africa. Like, what the [ __ ] are we doing? Come on, tribe. Uh they might be responsible for like uh half of the deaths.
13:34>> Yeah, I I don't like that. I don't like that. That's uh >> Yeah. Um >> I'm all for tribal, you know, doing their traditions and stuff, but you know, there's a few things here and there. It's like, yeah, >> there's a lot at stake. Uh if they don't kill that lion, they can't form their own village, and then they can't have like 10 wives or 50 wives like this one guy did. So >> 50.
13:56>> It's a big deal. It's a big deal. Oh, no. He had 10 wives and 50 kids.
14:00>> 10 wives and 50 kids.
14:02>> Yeah, >> that's a lot of alimony checks.
14:06>> They don't have alimony there. So, he was uh he was busy.
14:10>> Wow.
14:10>> He wasn't wasting any time.
14:12>> The Messiah tribe of Kenya and Tanzania is famous for the traditional right of passage where young men had to kill a lion to become recognized as a warrior.
14:21However, the idea that they did this with their bare hands is a myth. They historically used iron spears and shields. So they went straight up Maximus Desimus Meridius on these [ __ ] [laughter] They're like They're like, "Are you not entertained?"
14:37>> That's nuts, man.
14:38>> So they were trying to show off to me.
14:40They're like, "No, we actually use our hands."
14:41>> Where else have you been in Africa at this point?
14:44>> Uh quite a few places. Um I started off in East Africa, which um I like all of Africa, but I would say if you're a beginner, that's the best place to start.
14:53>> Beginner.
14:53>> Yeah. if you're just getting into it. Um like because uh Kenya, Tanzania, they're a little more used to tourists. Okay.
15:00So, and they're people are really friendly though.
15:03>> But I've also been to West Africa. Uh those countries were pretty crazy. Uh Nigeria especially. Um >> Nigeria's popping off.
15:12>> Nigeria was insane. Um it's >> I I it's probably the second most corrupt country in the world. And I always say second because Congo was number one which is also in Africa.
15:24>> Yeah.
15:24>> But uh I actually went viral on national news in Nigeria because again not trying to do this. I bring a camera into the airport and it's the most like horrifying airport in existence. It's just like you can literally bribe anyone in the airport to do anything. So it's just like you want to cut the line. Okay just give this guy like five bucks. You want to bring this through security?
15:47could give this guy maybe 10 bucks.
15:49[laughter] Um, >> 10 bucks cutters.
15:52>> Yeah. Um, they're like there's people like shouting at me for no reason cuz they see I have a camera. I mean, you can imagine why. Yeah.
16:01>> Um, the police, they try to like have me delete the footage, but um >> they didn't realize that if you just like delete the footage, but not out of like the deleted files folder, it's still there.
16:13>> That trash can's helpful.
16:15>> It's very helpful. So, uh, that footage survived and I uploaded it and, [clears throat] um, it just went crazy in the country. They were like, all these Nigerians started contacting me.
16:26They were like, "Thank you for doing this. Like, we've been complaining about this for so long. Like, the government said they're actually going to do something now, which I think they actually did. They like went in for like a month or two and we're like making sure there was no corruption."
16:40But I mean I kind of Yeah, I know Nigeria more or less and I think they went back to it after that.
16:48>> But uh yeah, it was wild.
16:50>> Yeah. And like the Nigerian diaspora is unbelievable. Like every Nigerian I know, they're like a doctor, a lawyer, a company. They're like [ __ ] geniuses.
17:00>> And it's like a lot of them, it's because a lot of them are leaving the country, too, because there's all kinds of issues there.
17:06>> Yeah. Well, it's kind of like New York.
17:07It's like if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere cuz it's insane there. It's like so as soon as like Yeah. you want like a better job, a better life, you know what? They're just like, "Yeah, we're not going to get that here. So, let's go over to the US. Let's go over to Europe."
17:23>> Yeah. So, that was what year were you in Nigeria?
17:27>> Um uh 2021. Yeah.
17:30>> Okay. Cuz there we just >> All these things we've been looking at actually happened the same year.
17:35>> Wow. That was a packed year. 2021. That was possible.
17:38>> Very busy. Okay.
17:39>> I think I made like something like half my videos actually just that one year >> in 2021. [clears throat] >> Yeah.
17:44>> Wow.
17:44>> But I think um a lot of travel vloggers like make the same mistake when they start off. They're just like, I'm just going to film everything and upload everything. And I was kind of in that mentality. So I was making like a billion videos.
17:55>> Yeah. But again, you got to figure out like what's working and what's not and what you're interested in, what's not.
18:01That's part of it. [snorts] But yeah, because didn't we just was wasn't there like Trump just like bombed Nigeria? I can't even keep track of all this [ __ ] He bombed [snorts] them like six, seven months ago or some [ __ ] >> Um >> for like >> Yeah, that was like last year >> on Christmas Day. Yeah. [laughter] Very >> perfect.
18:17>> Perfect celebration. All right. What do you do, D?
18:20>> Yeah. Right here.
18:21>> All right. So on December 25th, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the US launched air strikes against ISIS militants in northwestern Nigeria. The strikes involving tomahawk missiles were conducted in coordination with the Nigerian government and targeted militant camps in Sakoto state. Yeah, I think it was like they were killing the ISIS guys were like killing some of the local Christians and stuff. So he hit him on Christmas.
18:45>> There you go. That's exactly what Trump would do.
18:49>> Yeah. [snorts] Do you ever like cuz you're all over the world all the time and so you hear the news while you're in all these other places. I imagine it comes up as you've already alluded to with the people around you. Does it give you like a totally different perspective on like the things that the United States does around the world because you're in these other places while you're hearing about it?
19:12Um, I'm glad you asked that because um, yeah, one of the things I discovered was like living especially living abroad, but even just traveling abroad for like a long period of time will give you a different perspective on America like and you can only I feel get that perspective by doing that. Um there's yeah maybe like halfways to it but and then you go to these countries like uh Nigeria, Iraq, whatever. And then you meet these people and you you ask them like damn, what was it like? What was it like uh when the US was here like bombing [ __ ] and stuff and it's like yeah that sucked. Uh it's over now but
19:54you know life goes on and and again yeah the people are not their government. you realize they're people just like you. Uh some of them I mean like in Iraq there was a few times where I had guys that were like we need to make sure he's not like a Jewish spy. [laughter] >> There was a guy like saying this like right in front of me. Uh and I was like which forced me to say things like uh I'm not Jewish. [laughter] >> I'm not Jewish by the way. Uh >> holding up a cross or something.
20:27>> Yeah. [laughter] [snorts] free Palestine.
20:32[laughter] >> You do what you got to do in those situations.
20:37>> You do [laughter] what you got to do.
20:39>> Yeah.
20:40>> When were you in Iraq? 2021.
20:42>> Uh no, that so that came much later.
20:44That was actually uh last December. Uh so not too long.
20:47>> What was that? What was that like being in Iraq now?
20:50>> Um that was a very interesting trip for sure. Um it was very surprising also because um I basically went from the north all the way to the south. So I saw all different parts of the country and I kept meeting people that were like, "Wow, you're the first American I ever met. I'm so happy about this. I want to give you food. I want to give you this.
21:09I want to give you this." It's like the most generous country I've ever been to.
21:12And you would never expect that necessarily before going. Um but there are some uh like divisions in the I guess uh Americans know there's some divisions in the country and um there's like all these different groups have different opinions on America. So they're like reactions would vary. Um so for example the Kurds uh they had kind of been like screwed over by the US a few times but they also remember that like we were very supportive of them. So >> we still haven't given them my country though.
21:45>> Yeah. Yeah. So they were I guess like neutral neutral towards positive. Uh weirdly like the in my experience the Sunnis were pretty positive towards Americans cuz like they disliked the Shia who are like in control of the country now. Um and we also helped get rid of the Islamic State which they didn't like. So >> Okay, that makes sense.
22:06>> Yeah. Um, and then but the the majority of the country in the south is like Shia and I I don't think I've ever talked about this anywhere actually. Like there was this one place um I believe it's like the holiest place in like Shia Islam. They have like this tower there and I really wanted to see this.
22:25>> We'll find it. Yeah. Yeah.
22:26>> Yeah. Um I actually forgot the name of the city. I think it starts with an S but it's like an hour or two hours north of Baghdad.
22:35uh >> Imam al-Sin in Nhaf housing the tomb of Ali Ibin Alt Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad and the first Shia Imam.
22:44>> Yeah, there was uh one other uh yeah, I don't know if you could find it, but >> yeah, holiest Shia site.
22:52>> Pull up a map. I can definitely point it out.
22:54>> Okay, we'll get it.
22:58>> And you said you visited this place.
23:00Yeah, I went there and um yeah, just zoom in a bit.
23:05[clears throat] >> Okay, >> just like a little north of Baghdad.
23:09>> You could zoom in near back.
23:11>> A little north.
23:12>> Uh let's see.
23:16>> Khan, Ben also the the S one up there. Samara. Yeah, that one.
23:27>> That's where it is.
23:28>> Yeah, that's it.
23:28>> All right. So, can we Google Shia holy site in Samara?
23:32>> That's the tower. Yeah, >> it's probably Yeah. Is that what you're talking about?
23:36>> That's what I was talking about. Yeah.
23:38So, the very >> Oh, that's [ __ ] cool looking. Looks like a wedding cake.
23:42>> Yeah. It's uh So, that's what I thought I'd be doing if I went there. I thought I could like climb the tower and take a picture like that or something.
23:49>> They didn't let you do that.
23:50>> So, um I don't know when they stopped letting people do that, but now it's like fenced off. You can view it from a distance. But the really notable thing that I did not quite uh realize before going there was that this city is actually controlled by Shia militants.
24:05>> Huh.
24:06>> Not the Iraqi government.
24:07>> Right.
24:08>> So all over Iraq you have like checkpoints and they're run by like the Iraqi military and they'll like check your passport and they'll be like, "Oh, you have a visa." Okay, fine. They'll be friendly usually and let you go. The militias are a little bit different.
24:24They're like, "You're American. That's very suspect." They had me like get out of the car, the taxi, like go.
24:30>> Do you have this on film?
24:33>> Uh, [sighs] no. To be honest with you, I was really shook at that point.
24:37>> Yeah, I can imagine. I didn't know if you just still had it in your hand, though.
24:40>> I still had Russia in the back of my head and I was like, I don't want to [ __ ] with this. I don't want to [ __ ] with this. This was supposed to be like a more calm year or something. And I was like, >> but um >> so they pull you out of the car. They're questioning you. I do have um footage uh it's in my Iraq video actually of being like pulled out of the car and just uh having my uh baggage searched another city.
25:00>> Do you remember where?
25:01>> Don't ever come to Iraq or else. Another great title.
25:04>> There you go. Uh >> right there.
25:06>> It's >> the first spike.
25:08>> Probably earlier. Yeah, it's before I get to like the town. It's along the way. I go before that. Go even earlier.
25:16>> Yeah, somewhere along >> right there. Yeah. All right, let's let's get some volume on this and roll it.
25:20>> Yeah. passport.
25:23>> I have my passport. You got me passport.
25:25Yes.
25:28>> Let's make sure we plug the Instagram.
25:30So Tommy, [clears throat] >> who's this? Can we pause that real quick?
25:37>> Who is that guy?
25:38>> So these are just some uh passengers in the taxi. In Iraq, they have uh shared taxis, which people usually take instead of buses.
25:45>> Yeah, we have those here, too.
25:46>> Do we?
25:47>> Yeah, we got shared Ubers.
25:49>> Oh [ __ ] Damn, I've been out of America.
25:53>> Okay, so these guys are just randos in there, but they could be spies.
25:57>> Uh, I mean, theoretically, >> theoretically. All right, let's keep going.
26:04>> You're going to get off in Alex.
26:09>> They were trying to guide me to like the right place. I didn't even know where I was going.
26:12>> Carious about where I'm going.
26:13>> Yeah, the right place.
26:17>> No lines on the road, huh? No. Okay. So, this is the actual checkpoint.
26:24That's the >> Oh, right. So, you're outside now?
26:27>> Yeah.
26:27>> Oh, I'd be sh I left my camera on in the bag.
26:32>> Take it out. Passport.
26:34>> Oh, they're holding the bag right now.
26:36Got it.
26:36>> The checkpoint.
26:38>> You're like, Russia part two. Yeah.
26:41Absolutely.
26:43>> I didn't actually uh put the police on film because apparently that's very illegal. I was in >> Is he Moroccan?
26:50>> He's American.
26:52[laughter] >> You You don't look Moroccan.
26:57>> I don't know where the hell you're on.
26:59>> Yeah. Is he not going to lie?
27:00>> That was actually a little bit stressful going through those checkpoints.
27:03>> Sometimes I really feel American here, >> unsurprisingly.
27:07>> Yeah, you're looking. [groaning] >> All right, that's good right there. So, that was You got through it. Did they just were like, "You're good."
27:14>> Um, yeah. They were like, "H, nothing weird here." But the um so the checkpoint in Samara that was run by the Shia militants, they like took me out of the car for like 20 minutes and it was like holding up the entire taxi and I felt like really bad about that and they were being nasty towards me. So like by the time they finally like let me in and I realized like I'm fully within like a zone control by like Shia militants that like still have like a grudge against the US, I just got like completely shook. I was like, I don't want to film here. I don't even want to be here.
27:47Like, I'm like, I'm just gonna get out of here. And I ended up like just finding another taxi. Um, and like about 20 minutes later, I was on the road back to Baghdad.
27:56>> Back to Baghdad. Safe safe.
27:59>> Yeah. The safe confines of Baghdad.
28:01>> Yeah. [snorts] When people talk about Baghdad in here, it's usually, you know, [laughter] >> you know, so it's a little different.
28:07>> A bit of a different vibe.
28:08>> When was the part where they were calling you a Jewish spy? Was that the cops there?
28:11>> Uh, that's actually in that video. Um I I believe or they say something about Israel in there. Um >> you are mass.
28:19>> So there's uh this is actually really cool. This is the part of Iraq. I wanted the show where it's like this guy with like 15 kids again. Uh he's like, "Hey, you know what? You haven't had lunch?
28:30I'll come. I'll make lunch for you."
28:31Check.
28:34>> They actually asked me, "Are you Jewish?"
28:38And I brag. First of all, I'm not Jewish. I'm definitely not Jewish in this country. [laughter] [laughter] >> I'm good.
28:53>> It's a little bit past this.
28:54>> Nice to meet you.
28:55>> What's interesting about this town actually though?
28:58>> I'll just explain this. It's like there's a shrine like a Jewish shrine and um it still has like the Star of David and stuff inside of it, but they I think they converted it into a mosque, but they still like >> But they keep the star.
29:12>> They keep the star >> out of respect. Okay.
29:14>> It was interesting. It's the only place in Iraq.
29:16>> Each other's religions. We need more of that in the world.
29:18>> Exactly.
29:18>> All right. We're This is it.
29:25>> Okay. So, they're in Yeah.
29:30This is like their living room. But okay, possibly dining rooms. I wonder who's on there.
29:37>> Those are Yeah, like Shia prophets or important people in Shia Islam. God, >> you can see that this is a Shia household. [snorts] Prophet [clears throat] Imam Hussein up there, the most important person in Shia Islam besides the main man himself.
29:58Most of this region is Shia.
30:01[clears throat] >> Not what I was expecting when I came back at you.
30:05>> So, I've basically been sitting here for like 5 minutes by myself. That would naturally lead me to the conclusion that um I literally at the riverbank just said I'm hungry. They brought me to their house and now they're just cooking a meal on the spot. How many countries in the world would that happen?
30:29Are you a journalist? He says, >> you say, "I'm traveling." He goes, "Are you a journalist?"
30:35>> He's just traveling.
30:39>> Okay. [snorts] These people are super [clears throat] nice. Except for the guy's brother. He's like the uncle. He keeps asking stuff like, "Am I a journalist?"
30:50Even worse, "Are you Israeli?" Because I can't [laughter] see that shrine. You think everything's fine.
30:56>> Here we go.
30:59>> He's He's eyeing you up.
31:01>> Yeah.
31:02>> He looking at you like you're a [ __ ] alien.
31:05>> Let me handle it. No, don't touch it.
31:08[laughter] >> Touch it. Mad spy.
31:15I would have checked out for poison, bro.
31:19>> Bring some water in here. You like fish?
31:23One of the most tense meals I've had in a while. Oh, it's good. Very good.
31:27>> Imagine you're like choking it up.
31:29[clears throat] >> Another brother of yours. Yes. [snorts] >> How many brothers do you have?
31:38>> Six.
31:41>> Three. Three.
31:43>> Wow. No rubbers in that. [snorts] That's a lot.
31:51Oh, they're going on Instagram live now.
31:53[snorts] >> Facebook friends >> taking a picture.
31:58>> Were you here during the war? You were asking [snorts] >> America and Iraq that way. Oh, yeah.
32:04Yes. [clears throat] >> Keith, >> how was life?
32:07>> Well, it's war. [laughter] [laughter] >> Very descriptive.
32:19Oh, that was so good. [snorts] >> It's not like now sitting in peace sitting here. War is tanks, missiles, a family burning, a family gets killed, this one dies, that one gets shelled, cars burning.
32:36Governments are governments is what you said. People are people.
32:40>> Yes.
32:44All right, that's good right there. All sweet people. Very nice to Yeah.
32:48That was just a funny delivery, bro.
32:50>> Oh, for sure.
32:50>> How was it? Well, it's worked.
32:52[laughter] >> It's all serious.
32:56>> Yeah. Yeah. I It's like I was really nervous about asking that question, but um I was like, there's no other way to ask this, so let's just go for it.
33:04>> Do you think like your as a foreigner in all these places?
33:09Obviously, there's a lot to build in social anxiety when you go anywhere.
33:13Even for you, I'm sure after all these countries, you still go to new places and you're still like, "All right, I got to feel this out." Do you think some of that like is kind of channeled to be able to actually get good [ __ ] You know what I mean? Like you're on such high alert that you end up asking questions that get you to a farther place and actually get real information out of people.
33:32>> Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, um I think even that day I had like in the back of my head like I should probably ask somebody here about the war, you know?
33:40Like that would be interesting. I just don't want to like offend them and uh get some [ __ ] started. But um yeah, no, it's uh it's interesting like when I first arrive in a country, I'm actually like usually pretty nervous because like every single country has different first of all laws about filming in public. Uh they have different attitudes towards cameras. There's some countries where the people like really hate that you're filming. Others like love it. They like try to get in front of the camera. Um, and uh, and then I'm also just thinking like, all right, I mean, this is my my travels, but it's got to be interesting.
34:16So, uh, you know, what can I like ask the people here? Um, what would be good?
34:21So, yeah, I it's always different for every country. So, >> not wearing a Bush Cheney 04 shirt was a real missed opportunity.
34:30>> That's a real conversation.
34:32>> Yeah. Would have made some real friends with that one.
34:33>> Or maybe like a Hallebertton, you know, just wear that shirt in there. be like, "What do you think of this?"
34:38>> Right. Right. Yeah.
34:41>> Like throw them in the dungeon.
34:43>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Talk about uh Yeah.
34:45Ask where the oil is. Um didn't get to ask that.
34:48>> You ever you ever get to um [snorts] get to meet any of the Yazidis or some of the groups that were like >> I did actually.
34:57>> You did?
34:57>> That's actually the other video I made in Iraq. Um >> Oh, really? Wow. All right. So they were obviously massacred in large numbers or also sold into slavery when ISIS came in and everything. They are not >> they have their own religion. It's not Islam. It's their own different thing and there's what like 1.5 million of them or were 1.5 million of them in Iraq.
35:20>> Yeah. Um they're a very very interesting uh group of people and I knew their story before going so I just became uh really obsessed with the idea of trying to find them. But um they've been displaced from their homeland, which is like this mountain that's like near the border with uh Syria. And uh so a lot of them are still like in these refugee camps and stuff spread around the region.
35:43>> They're actually Kurdish, so like I don't want to say like a lot of people in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East have like no sympathy for them, but uh it definitely doesn't like endear them to them. And then on top of that, they have like a different religion, which it's not that they actually like worship the devil or anything, but it's more like I don't even know how that got started to be honest with you. Like their main god is actually it looks like a peacock or something. And it's like it protects them from the devil or something like that.
36:12>> Can we Google just so we get the specifics, Steve, can we Google Yazidi religious beliefs and we'll just [clears throat] literally pull up the CIAD on that and see what they say?
36:21[snorts] I mean, listen, you know who's editing that.
36:26>> All right. So, Yazidiism is a monotheistic ethnic religion. It developed through a complex historical process involving a pre-Islamic Kurdish religious substratum and the teachings of Shik Abin Aden Musafir. Scholars generally regard it as an independent religious tradition with deep roots in ancient Iranian beliefs shaped by later Sufi influences. Its followers called Yazidis or Kurdish speaking community.
36:49Yazidiism is based on the belief in one god who created the world and entrusted its guardianship to seven self-einated angels. Preeminent among these angels is Tuasi Melik Peacock Angel who is the leader of the angels and has the greatest authorities over the world.
37:04There's a girl, Nadia Morad, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, I want to say, in like 2018, who was a young Yazidi girl whose family, many of them were massacred by ISIS and she was actually sold into slavery with ISIS and and wrote a book, I believe it's called The Last Girl about the whole thing, which is a phenomenal book. I highly recommend it.
37:30I never want to read it again, though.
37:32It's one of those like it's very very important to read. Brilliantly written, tells the whole story, but like >> you know, not obviously not a not a pleasant story. She's a really really really resilient woman who I'd love to have on the podcast sometimes if she ever does that. But >> you know, I hadn't really known about that part of it until I learned her story and then saw how many people were in the middle of this. And when I've talked to like a lot of my Navy Seal guys and stuff, guys who were serving back then and they're like, "Oh yeah, dude. It was it was nasty."
38:05>> Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, there were like reports of it in the media and stuff and I'm sure they were like hiding like 90% of the details, right? But even like the 10% that we knew. Yeah. It was horrific.
38:16You know, they were just like straight up sex slaves for ISIS. Um >> just like I think they would keep them in like cages and then just like take them out to like stuff. No, it was horrible.
38:26>> It was horrible. Yeah. In every way. In every way. But so you did a full video where you went and found some of them.
38:31Many of them displaced in some of these camps. Where were these camps again?
38:35Like some of the ones. Did you go to them or >> I did. Yeah. And I actually went to uh the holiest place for the Yazidis.
38:41[clears throat] And um >> yeah, they were I was just really struck by like how kind they were.
38:46>> Um cuz this is like the holiest place in their religion. And they're like, "Yeah, you can go in. Yeah, go ahead. Like you know, take some pictures, you know, show it off." Um, I made like this faux paw where they have this thing where you're not supposed to step on like the doorstep or something and accidentally did that and they came over and they're like, "No, no, no, don't do that." But they were like smiling as they said it.
39:06[laughter] Uh, so I mean I there's maybe some other regions where they wouldn't be that friendly. So, um, yeah, they were just like very nice, very kind. Um, it was a little bit hard to communicate with them because actually they speak Kurdish, not Arabic. some some of them spoke Arabic and >> you don't speak any Kurdish.
39:25>> I like just the basics of it like some greetings and stuff.
39:30>> But um for the people I found that spoke Arabic or English, there were some people that spoke English. Um I got to know like their story basically they're not getting like any funding or anything for like the refugee camps now. So they're just kind of like stuck in their situation.
39:43>> That's horrible, man.
39:44>> Yeah. We went around and uh we bought a bunch of stuff for like the kids in the town. Got cutest kids ever. They look like they could be like anything. Some of them look like they were Swedish.
39:55Some of them look like they're from Saudi Arabia or something. Like every kind of like ethnicity. That's kind of like the Kurds in general.
40:02>> Yeah.
40:02>> Yeah. It's amazing. There's like 33 million Kurds and they have these provinces where basically they rule.
40:10>> Yeah.
40:10>> But they don't have on the map lines that show that they have a country.
40:15>> Yeah. Yeah. It's uh one of the more forgotten uh quests for self-determination in the world, I would say, cuz like yeah, they're spread across four countries, including Iran.
40:26>> Mhm.
40:27>> Uh and Turkey, most notably. [snorts] Um >> and yeah, just because of pure geopolitics, it will probably never happen. I made another video called uh the country that will never be a country. uh which I filmed in uh southern Turkey, southeastern Turkey I should say, which is like the Kurdish region.
40:46>> Yeah. My buddy Eric Zuliger's banned from Turkey for life because he was on a train and they came by and asked him where he was coming from and he said Kurdistan.
40:54>> No [ __ ] >> Yeah.
40:55>> No [ __ ] Well, I hope I'm not banned. I haven't checked.
40:58>> They don't like that.
40:59>> They don't like that there. All right.
41:01Inside the country that will never be a country. Let's give this some some violin roll. Um, yeah, you could skip towards like maybe the middle of it.
41:12>> So, this is the Kurdish enclave you're in.
41:16>> Um, yeah.
41:17>> King of the castle. King of the castle.
41:21>> What's up?
41:21>> I think actually like the later parts of the video, we go to like this place where they had a major war with the Turkish government. Yeah, I think >> over the many years of conflict.
41:35How's the life? Life isn't so expensive.
41:42>> The new year things are worse.
41:45Cost 25.
41:48So no bread. What is your home?
41:53Don't expect me to be like a Turkish accent.
41:59here is not your hometown.
42:02>> Where are you from?
42:05>> Sure. You pause.
42:06>> Who's the woman you're with? Right there.
42:08>> Oh, um, she also has like a small YouTube channel. I make videos with her >> once in a while. Yeah. She's uh kind of adventurous or something.
42:15>> Also American.
42:16>> She's from Indonesia.
42:18>> Indonesia of all places. Meet her >> uh in Indonesia. Um, just in the capital. Uh we had like a chance encounter and >> chance encounter. I [laughter] see what you did there.
42:28>> Uh and um yeah, we uh found out she was interested in making videos and then uh went from there.
42:34>> Hope you told her you're a married man.
42:36>> Uh yeah. Yeah. I was You want to be the fifth?
42:41>> So that was how I worked it up.
42:42>> So there were four. Okay. All right.
42:46>> Nice to meet you.
42:47>> Byebye. Yeah. [snorts] >> Friendly Kurdish people.
42:49>> Yeah. here in the neighborhood trying to make sure that uh there's nothing uh inappropriate going on here. [laughter] >> Oh yeah, >> buddy.
43:02>> No money.
43:05>> We're walking towards the [laughter] Grand Mosque of the Arbakir.
43:18Pick that one.
43:18>> I think a garbage truck.
43:20>> That is a good idea.
43:21>> They have very narrow street.
43:22>> I came up with it myself. All right. So, this the Grand Mosque of Diarbakir [snorts] of Ahmed. May needs a hijab to go in.
43:30So, I'm going to use >> it was for a men though. [laughter] >> That's supposed to be like a Kurdish scarf.
43:38>> Oh, it is.
43:39>> Yeah.
43:41[groaning] >> This is the bandana that I bought uh back in his mir. A head covering is a head covering.
43:48>> And you're [snorts] also showing Turkish pride. You're showing you're showing Kurdish pride, by the way. So, >> oh, that guy turned back Turkish.
43:55[laughter] >> Say that [ __ ] >> Enter Yiddish.
44:00>> Spoke like very basic Turkish.
44:02[laughter] >> So, they're speaking Turkish.
44:06>> I didn't know what the hell it was.
44:07>> And then Turkish women are not even wearing stupid.
44:12Once again, even out here, Turkey is more liberal than you thought.
44:17>> So, is that like an open?
44:18>> So, here we have the Grand Mosque of the Arab.
44:23>> So, it's open air, >> the big moss.
44:24>> Yeah. Or I think the >> this is actually one of the oldest cities in the world history going back almost 5,000 years. And of course, there have been many different groups and religions that have passed through this area, [groaning] but has been Muslim for the last 1500 years. All right. May as someone from a Muslim country, uh, how does this work?
44:49>> Oh, you wash your feet, your hands.
44:54>> Really?
44:55>> Yeah.
44:56>> You put so much effort.
45:01[groaning] >> Yeah, that's pretty cold. It is cold.
45:03The >> water was freezing.
45:04>> They actually pray while you do it.
45:07>> How long ago was this one?
45:09>> Um around the same time I went to Iraq.
45:12So last something.
45:14>> No, no, I'm just kidding.
45:16>> Where I'm from?
45:17>> America.
45:17>> America.
45:18>> Yeah.
45:18>> You came here from America?
45:20>> Uh yeah, I'm a YouTuber. Yeah.
45:23[laughter] >> You are from here?
45:25>> Yeah, I'm from particularly 100% from here.
45:28>> Nice. Nice. Yeah.
45:30>> Kurdish.
45:30>> Yeah, [snorts] I'm Kurdish. Yeah.
45:31>> Wow. How is life here?
45:33>> Yeah, it's good. Before I was living in Antalia, I stumble.
45:36>> Okay.
45:37>> After 15 years, I came back to my hometown.
45:40>> You missed home.
45:41>> Yeah, I miss here. Some time I was here.
45:43>> Okay.
45:44>> Better here or >> Yeah. better life.
45:47>> We are We are good. They are family. We are very open.
45:51>> You do seem to have some nice people here.
45:52>> Yeah. [laughter] Be careful to meet you. Have a nice welcome to my pleasure. He did say thank you.
46:02He had some more controversial takes off camera, but uh >> so you want to enlighten [snorts] us.
46:07>> Still want to get him in trouble, but uh you can imagine, >> right, >> what he thought about the region.
46:12>> Okay. Yeah. Free Free the Kurds. I got you.
46:16>> Yeah, that's like a whole thing now because now you got like some of the hardliners in Israel trying to scream that Turkeykey's the next Iran or something.
46:25I mean, you know, are we just going to keep trying to find a [ __ ] war everywhere?
46:31>> Yeah, it gets a little tiring.
46:32>> It gets exhausting, right?
46:33>> A little exhausting. Yeah. I mean, um I I try to uh if I can stay out of politics in my videos, I'm like pretty like even on that. I think both sides are [ __ ] up. But, uh >> I my one opinion is I think the Middle East is the Middle East. And I mean, if we're not if we don't have like a direct reason to be there, then we shouldn't be messing around there. So, >> it is uh unfortunate that Yeah, we keep getting drawn into conflicts there or starting [ __ ] >> Yeah, it's when you look at everywhere we've been for the past over, you know, like basically 25 years, it just seems to destabilize a bunch of places. And you
47:17get to see the human side of it to where the people who are forced to live with the bombs dropping all the time are now, you know, adjusting to their life and the aftermath of that whole period that still continues in many places obviously, but it's like to me especially the more we get involved with things that are completely avoidable.
47:36I'm not saying like everyone is great and there's not evil out there. There is. You can't just go [ __ ] bomb everyone you don't like, though.
47:43It to me it just creates more and more generational distrust and dislike towards America.
47:52And you know I I would obviously you've met a lot of these people in person and stuff. It's like they're normal people and they may hold some of those beliefs because of the things that have happened to them and their family.
48:02>> And you know I wish it wasn't that way and I didn't have anything to do with that myself but I understand why they feel that way.
48:09>> Yeah. That was the really hard thing about traveling through the Middle East because you meet all these different groups and they all have like different like hopes and dreams about like what state they should be living in >> and they all really have like valid claims to what they're saying. You know, it's like so I'd meet like the Kurds, I'd meet the Palestinians, I'd meet uh people in Iraq, all different kinds of people in Iraq. Uh I met uh I haven't talked about this before. I met Iranians in Oman and uh Dubai afterward >> after the war started.
48:42>> After the war started. Yeah. And um what was really trippy for me was they would be like, "We want Trump to continue bombing Iran. We want uh we want the Netanyahu to keep bombing Iran." I at least the Iranians I met, they were all like very pro like war, pro Trump, pro like everything.
49:03But I mean obviously the I don't know if I should be saying that when I want to go there but uh yeah the the government there is maybe not the best.
49:13>> Mhm.
49:14>> And um and it's like yeah you just end up having a lot of sympathy for all these different people. You're like yeah I want you guys to have like your ideal government. I want you to have freedom.
49:24Um I want the courage to have freedom. I want uh I want the Turks to have like the best country possible. I love all these different people. Um, but they all hate each other. So, it's like, [ __ ] I don't know what to do. I just know that America can't solve it by itself.
49:38>> That's right. And I think, and it's a good point you make, too. It's like, you know, an unfortunate casualty informationwise in the ongoing Iran war is that people are so pissed off about us being in this whole thing that there's now people who are like, well, maybe their government's not that bad strictly because they're that pissed off. And like, that fact doesn't change.
50:01It's it's it's been obviously they've been living under a totalitarian regime since 1979. Covered that over the years on on this show many different times and like that doesn't change. It's it's horrible and I I wish they could have a new government. The fact of the matter is, and I would imagine this is even harder for someone like you who knows these people on the ground and wants the best for them like you were just saying, but the fact of the matter is it is on people to change their government sometimes. like it's not you can't just have other countries like the United States try to come in and wreak
50:37havoc and get a new government because it ends up like I think if we've proved anything we're not very good at rebuilding nations at least at this point in time you know and so in some ways it's like you feel like you're stuck between a [ __ ] and a fart right like you stay out they stay under the control of the regime you go in you cause massive [ __ ] third fourth fifth and 10th tenth order effects and It's just not. The world unfortunately is really really complicated.
51:05>> It is. Yeah. It's It's like just one of those situ situations where there's no good answer.
51:11>> That's right.
51:12>> I would think.
51:13>> That's right. Have you spent any time in in Palestine and Israel at all? Like since the conflict really popped off there? Obviously, it's always been popping off, but in the last few years.
51:23>> Yep. That was another uh very notable experience on my channel, you could say.
51:28Uh, again, I swear I did this unintentionally. Uh, [laughter] like, uh, I ended up being in Israel and Palestine just like about 3 weeks after October 7th, uh, 3 years ago.
51:43>> You have remarkable timing.
51:44>> I I really do.
51:46>> It's almost like you have good intelligence.
51:47>> I Yeah, I wish I did, [laughter] but uh, it was like I had been planning to go there anyway. I had the flights booked and then I was like, uh, I'll still go.
51:58But um yeah, so that was a very very interesting experience. Um I as soon as I got there, I had to fly into Tel Aviv.
52:08Um literally as soon as I check into my Airbnb, uh there's sirens. Uh there's like missiles or whatever coming from Gaza. So I'm like, "Okay, that's how it is here." Um I met with all different kinds of people. I met uh like protesters in Israel that are like against like the constant fighting. I met obviously the majority of the Israeli population is like super pro everything they're doing.
52:35>> Um but I would say uh probably the highlight of the trip was going into the West Bank and um again doing it like I would do in any other country. I just I was like all right I'm going to try to travel in the West Bank in like the most tense time ever. So I went to um city called Ramala which I believe is uh the biggest city in the West Bank. Um had like uh I did have one contact there. Um he was this guy who had he was Palestinian. He uh he had lived in Israel briefly but I guess he was kind of like an illegal immigrant there. So they like put him back in the West Bank.
53:14>> Um [clears throat] and he had like a very like normal peaceful view on everything. He was just like, "Why can't we just have like an open border and like, you know, go back and forth and whatnot?" Um, he looked kind of like Jesus, >> interestingly enough. Yeah.
53:28>> This is on video.
53:29>> It is on video. Yeah, he's in there.
53:30>> Video.
53:31>> Yeah.
53:33>> And um yeah, the >> Go ahead.
53:38>> Okay. So, um yeah, like uh he helped me out and then I had like it turned out this was a crazy idea at the time, but I was like, I want to go see the Dead Sea.
53:49Um but there was literally unsurprisingly zero tourist in the West Bank at this point. So, there was like no buses running.
54:00>> Uh that one. Yeah, >> they will shoot you at the check trapped in Palestine.
54:04>> Your titles are hard as [ __ ] >> Yeah.
54:07>> All right. So the guy that looked like Jesus, >> uh, it should be like maybe middle halfway there. It's like, yeah, at the start of it, I'm Jerusalem.
54:17>> Is Ramala a place where they have settlements as well?
54:20>> Uh, yeah, that guy. Yeah.
54:22>> A lot of people do.
54:22>> They do. Yeah. He actually lived in what was supposed to be a refugee camp, but it actually looked like a neighborhood.
54:28>> Okay. All right. Let's play him >> here. Now, I really don't know, but usually the the scouts, they start they train here. And here is a dorm. These are doors for the soccer players.
54:40>> Oh, okay. The soccer players are up here.
54:42>> Yeah.
54:43>> Like funerals of people who died who doesn't have money like to pay for stuff that so they can't do anything.
54:49>> So you medical staff are in here.
54:51>> Yeah. Like you can see it now.
54:56>> Yeah. There's an image the Alex mosque very important in Palestine.
55:02So all the people here they were refugees after the 1948 war.
55:08>> Yes.
55:08>> Okay. Yeah. They were expelled. They are all from the villages around.
55:19>> This is my house.
55:20>> Okay. My parents house. [laughter] >> That's my grandparents house.
55:23>> Okay.
55:23>> That's my >> behind the sandwich shop.
55:26>> Yeah. This sandwich shop is for my uh >> sandwich shop that was owned by my sister-in-law. Okay. That's nice.
55:37[screaming] >> Very poor economics in a place like this, right?
55:44>> Yeah, it's it's pretty striking coming from uh like the Israeli part. Uh whereas that is like fully a first world developed country. Like there's parts of Tel Aviv that look look like New York basically.
55:56>> Mhm. Um, [snorts] and yeah, with that said, I mean, I try to be as honest as possible with my videos. Like, in Palestine, it wasn't as bad as like some of the other Middle Eastern countries I had been to.
56:09>> It's like it was definitely less developed than Israel, but not as bad as, let's say, like what I saw in Iraq or Yeah.
56:18>> like lack of running water and stuff like that.
56:21>> Yeah. Yeah.
56:21>> Okay. So, this was a few weeks after October 7th, literally. literally. Yeah.
56:27>> Did you go to any of the settlements?
56:29>> Um like the Israeli settlements in there? Uh no, I did not have like a contact to do that. And um I don't know if this is still going on, but at that time uh what was kind of dangerous about it was uh there weren't really buses running between the different cities because the Israelis had set up like checkpoints. I think they're always there, but like at this point in time, they were super severe. Like literally Palestinians would need like five to 10 hours to like pass these checkpoints. So you'd have to spend like an entire day to like get like get past them.
57:04>> And so um the reason I titled the video like that like they will shoot you at the checkpoint trapped in Palestine is cuz I ended up at this town near the Dead Sea and um this like really friendly guy, he had a hotel. It was closed because they had zero tourists.
57:21He reopened the hotel for me, like let me stay there. Um, but I actually had uh a flight the next day. My planning uh and I had to get back to Tel Aviv to take it and I was like, [snorts] "Fuck, I'm going to miss this flight." So, they tried to help me like set up a plan so I could pass the checkpoint without getting shot because like apparently Palestinians would walk up to these checkpoints and the Israelis would just like unload on them. So, it was kind of like uh kind of a intense thing to do.
57:56[snorts] Um, but they managed to get like a taxi driver from Jerusalem and the Palestinians that live in Jerusalem are the only ones that can go back and forth between the two places. So, >> why is that?
58:08>> It's just a specific rule that they have. Um, I believe they come from East Jerusalem, which I guess is part from like a special jurisdiction.
58:17Um, and they get like a special license plate that allows them to pass between the two. Israelis are actually not allowed to drive into Palestine or I think that's the Israeli government telling they can't do that. And then Palestinians obviously cannot go into Israel proper. Mhm. [snorts] >> So, yeah, they get that guy. He He's like waiting on the other end of the checkpoint and I just like walk across it and uh thankfully they just they were definitely kind of curious why the hell I was doing that, but uh obviously did not get shot.
58:50>> You're walking across it like the bullets might be hitting me.
58:55>> I had that thought in the back of my head.
58:56>> Were you [ __ ] yourself?
58:58>> I was very nervous like what the interaction was going to be. For sure.
59:01>> [laughter] >> the interaction.
59:03>> Yeah.
59:04>> Jesus [clears throat] Christ.
59:06>> Yeah.
59:07>> Do you think that [sighs] do you think that situation's solvable in our lifetime?
59:13>> Uh my honest opinion is no.
59:16>> I agree.
59:17>> Yeah. Because the Israelis, their mentality is they have no other home. And so they consider like any kind of antagonism to Israel is just like a fight for survival. And so there and plus obviously the um the hidic birth rate is like super high and like they're super conservative, super yeah like pro like just [ __ ] off Palestinians. Mhm.
59:45>> And then uh you know the Palestinians rightly also have their claims to the land and they're going to continue to want their land back and yeah the best we could hope for is I don't even know just like no more fighting.
59:59>> Yeah, I don't think we'll see that. I think a lot of it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thank you guys for checking out this clip. If you haven't already subscribed, please subscribe and hit the like button on this video. It is a huge, huge help. And if you'd like to check out this clip's full podcast episode, that link is in the description below or right here. And finally, you can follow me on Instagram and X by using the links in my description below.
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